Internal-combustion engine



Nov. 13 1923.

G. WAGENLANDER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sent. 21.

Nov. 13 1923. 1,474,217

G. WAGENLANDER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sept. 21, 1922' v 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 elf teams Nov. 13, 1923.

MAY

G. WAGENLANDER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sent. 21

Nov. 13, 1923.

1,474,217 G. WAGENLANDER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sent. 21 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Nov. 13, 1923. v G. WAGENLANDER INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sent. 21, 1922 5 sheets-Sheet 5 v 3:24;. ll V Ki ZJ lit/70,115!

EMILE!- Patented Nov. 13, 1923.

lanai? GEORGE WAGENLA'NDER, 0F WASHING-TON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. I

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.-

Applieation filed September 21,"1922. Serial No. 589,581.

type in which the oscillation of one or more pistons is communicated primarily to a rock shaft by direct connection therewith, and from the rock shaft is communicated by a crank and connecting rod to a crank shaft rotating in one direction.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of the type stated.

A further object of the invention is to improve the valve mechanism for an engine of this kind, the valves being of the sliding plate type, and the arrangement is such that a multiplicity of cylinders can be controlled by the same valve gearing.

Improved details will be apparent in the construction and'arrangement of the cylinders, pistons and connecting mechanism, de signed to provide a fully balanced engine which will run without excessive vibration, and which by the multiplication of cylinders may provide a practically continuous power impulse communicated to the crank shaft.

Further features of improvement relate to the ease and convenience with which the parts may be assembled, and with which the valve movement can be adjusted to compensate for wear or otherwise.

The invention maybe realized in an en gine containing one or more cylinders.

Preferably multiple cylinders will be em-- ployed, and for the purpose of illustration I have shown a four cylinder engine.

Various other advantages of construction and operation will be apparent from the fol lowing description and the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the engine. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3? of Fig. 4. Fig. 4c is avertical sectionon the line t4= of Fig; 3. Fig. 5 is an end elevation of what will be termed the front end of the engine. elevation with the front plate removed.

Fig. 7 is a top plan view with the cylinder head removed.

I Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view Of the cylinder head. Fig. 9 is a top plan in detail of the timing gears and a portion of Fig. 6 is a similarthe crank shaft. Fig. 10 is a front elevation of the cam andvalve shaft. Fig. 11 is'a detail of the pistons. Fig.'12 is a lay-out of one of the cams. Fig. 13 is a plan view of piston packing. Fig. 14 is a similar view of other. parts of the packing. Fig. 15 is a section of the valve shaft. Fig. 16 is a detail in section showing the valve'packing.

The engine illustrated is of'the four cycle type, and the construction and operation will be described with reference to an engine.

of that type. r 1 i 1 7 The cylinder block is indicatedas afwhole at 6 and may be mounted'on any suitable base 7. In this block four cylindersS are produced, and these cylindersare segmental in shape and are arranged intwo pairs the units of which are located at opposite sides of a common center, and the lower part of the cylinder block, in connection with the base,

forms a'crank case in which splash -lubrica-- tion maybe employed.v The cylinders are square in cross section, this form being'preferred to a circular section, altho the latter may be employed if desired, and the block is closed at the front end by a front-'- plate 9 bolted to the cylinder block, and at the other end by a rear plate 10 bolted thereto, these plates forming the outer walls of the cylinders. v 1 I Located at the center of the block, or rather at the common center ofuthe cylinders, is a rock shaft ll which is supported by bearing webs 12 cast in the block; The lower half of the bearings, indicated. at 12*, is preferably made removable, so that the rock shaft can be removed or the bearing adjusted from below. rThatis the bearing caps are on the under side. The rock shaft extends from front to rear horizontally of the block, but need not extendthrough the .end plates. At its front end the shaft has a counterbalanced crank 13 which is connected by a rod 14 to a crank 15 on the end of the crank shaft 16 which is carried in bearings l? at the base of the block, and the rear end of this'crank shaft extends through the rear vplate 10.- The front plate is boss ed or recessed the latter, whereby a single directionof movement is imparted to the latter.

Each pair of pistons consists of: a single substantiallysemi-circular rod .18, at each tionshown this rocker is conveniently located at the middle of the rock shaft, between its bea'rings,and the bolts by which it. is

' connected to the pistons are shown at 22.

Each piston head comprises a square web 23 (Fig. 11) with a bolt 24 connecting the same to a square face plate 25 of the same diameter as the'piston, with'a spacing sleeve 26 set betwee the web and the face plate. Thepacking sections shown in Figs. 13 and lt areset in this space. That shown in Fig. 13 consists of four triangular pieces 40 set to form-a square with aspring ring 42 tending to expand the same, and under these are two sets of sections shown in Fig. 14:, each section consisting of two pieces ll shaped to form a square, and set so that the joints between the sections of one will be broken by the solid part of the other, thus insuring a tight piston head.

From the construction thus far described it will beseen that reciprocation of the piston heads in the segmental cylinders will transmit, an oscillatory movement to the rocker and rock shaft, and rotation to the crank shaft. The spark plugs 43 may be conveniently set in the front and back plates, adjacent the upper end of the cylinders.

The cylinders are closed by a head or plate consisting of a casting 30 (Fig.8) bolted to the block, and this plate may comprise a single section, and to prevent leakage the underside of the cylinder head has longitudinal tongues 31 which fit in corresponding grooves in the cylinder block at opposite sides of the cylinders. said grooves being indicated at 32 (see Fig. 7). The cylinder head is recessed on the under side for the valves, said recesses being indicated at 33. and is cored as indicated at 3d and 35 for inlet and exhaust passages which open through inlet and exhaust ports 36 and 37 for the respective cylinders, the inlet pa.-

. sages communicating with fuel inlet pipes 38 and exhaust pipes 39 respectively. There is a pair of ports for each cylinder, and these ports are controlled by the slide valves 50 Each valve 50 consists of a flat plate of which there are four in all, each plate being provided with a portor opening 51 which is alternately registered. in time with the inlet and exhaust ports 3.6 and 37 to charge, "andexhaust the cylinder. The valves reciprocate in the recesses 33 on the under side of the cylinder head, said recesses opening through the head at the front and rear of the engine.

Each valve is operated by means of a crank 52. is shown especially in Figs. 4. and 15 one crank arm for one of the valves at the rear of the engine is connected to the upper end of a shaft 53 the lower end of which has acrank arm 54 carrying a pin 55 which travels in a cam groove 56in a cam 57 operated as hereinafter described. Theother crank arm at the rear of the engine is connected to sleeve 58 which encloses the shaft 53 and has a crank arm 59 with a pin 60 which travels in the groove 56 on the opposite side of the cam.

Each of the valves at the front of the enis connected to the appropriate arm 52 by a rod 63 bolt 61 and spacing sleeve 62, and one of said arms is mounted at the upper end of a shaft 64- and the other at the upper end of a sleeve 65, the shaft 6d being connected to an arm 66 which carries a pin 67' traveling in a groove 68 in a cam 69, and the sleeve being provided with an arm 70 having a pin 71 which also travels in said groove 68. These shafts and sleeves are supported by hearing brackets 72 and 73 bolted to the rear plate 10. The connection of the various valves with the respective arms 52 is made by means of slots 7 5 and pins 76 in said arms, and the throw of the valves can be varied by setting the pins at different places in the slots.

It will be seen that oscillation of the valve shafts and sleeves 53, 58, 64 and 65' will produce reciprocation of the valves timed according to the operation orth cle, the105 cam grooves being correspondingly developed as shown in the diagram in Fig. 12.

The valve gearing comprises a gear 80 (Fig. 9) keyed on the crank shaft 16 within the cylinder block, and this gear meshes for two to one reduction with a large gearSl fixed on a counter shaft 82 which carries a gear meshing with a gear 84: which is loose on the cam shaft 16, and located outside of the cylinder casing. The gear 84 is bolted as indicated at 85 to the cams 57 and 69 which are also loose on the shaft 16, the bolts extending through slots 90 in the ca ns so that the latter may beset for proper The valves are packed by packing 93' set intogrooves 94 extending crosswise between the grooves 32 in the top of the cylinder block,

said packing extending the full width of the valves and somewhat beyond, one packing strip being locatedat each side of each cylinder and pressing upwardly against the valve to prevent leakage thereunder. The packing is preferably of the spring strip type, and may be renewed by lifting oil' the cylinder head and valves.

An advantage of the special form of valve shown is the quick opening and closing in consequence of the relatively long arm crank movement, as well as the large area uncovered at each operation, -iving a. very quick supply and exhaust.

The cylinder block may be cored as indicated at 100 allow the circulation of cooling wate supplied from any suitable source. The details may be accommodated to various local conditions, according to the number of cylinders employed or other purposes, and no limitation is implied with respect thereto, within the scope of the following claims.

Among the practical advantages resulting from the construction described it may be stated that the construction provides a high speed compression with a slow speed crank shaft. That is, because of the translation of movement from the oscillating piston and rocker to the crank shaft the piston travel considerably exceeds the crank throw, with corresponding increased compression at a higher speed. Another is that the intake and exhaust gases pass through the same port in the slide valve, and thus theheated port has a tendency to more thoroughly vaporize the charge while the inrushing gases at the same time keeps the slide valve cool and prevents warpage.

Also since the pistons do not have to act as a guide for the various angles of travel of the connecting rod and are fully balanced it is unnecessary for them to fit with great snugness and so called piston slap is entirely eliminated.

Preferably the engine would be embodied in multiples of two cylinders, say four, eight or twelve cylinders, having one connecting rod for each four cylinders. Thus in an eight cylinder engine four cams are used instead of two, traveling between the two cylinder blocks, with one connecting rod on the outer end of each cylinder block. It

is also possible, particularly with an increased number of cylinders, to use an overhead cam shaft and tappet valves to advantage, instead of the slide valves, the cylinder to whicn bolt pistons are connected, a crank shaft operatively connected to the rocker, a detachable cylinder head fitting flatly on the top of the block, having inlet and exhaust ports therein, and slide valves in said head controlling said ports. i

in an engine, the combination set fortl in claim 1, the rocker having a counterbalance on the side of its center opposite the piston connection. 7

3. In an engine, the, combination set forth in claim 1, the crank shaft extending across the block below the pistons and the rocker including a rock shaft set in the block above the connection thereto of the pistons.

a. The combination set forth in claim 1, the pistons comprising a pair of heads at opposite ends of a single segmental channeled casting, the base web of the channeled casting being fastened to the side of the rocker.

5. In an engine, the combination set forth in claim 1, said valves reciprocating across the head in lines parallel to the axis of the crank shaft.

6. In an engine, the combination set forth GEORGE WAGENLANDER. 

